On Sunday, an Anhinga was reported in a retention pond in Mt Laurel, "behind the Shop-Rite." I was home; when I looked up the location I saw that it was almost an hour away. I didn't go.
On Monday, on our way down to Cape May, my alerts said the bird was still hanging out in the pond. And it stayed there, except for a brief excursion to another nearby pond, all the time we were down in Cape May. I have seen Anhingas this year, in Mexico, so it's not like I "needed" it. But I have never seen one in New Jersey, and I do keep track of my Burlco list, so today, the irrationality of listing compelled me to drive 45 minutes after my walk in Whitesbog, to this tiny body of water at the edge of housing development. As so often happens, the rare bird seemed to pick at random the spot where it would plunk down--it could have been in literally thousands of other retention ponds in NJ, but this one seemed like the place to be, for it. As the comedian Myron Cohen once observed, "Everybody's got to be someplace."
The entire time I was driving there two conflicting thoughts were pinging around in my head: This is stupid/I need it for my lists. This is stupid/I need it for my lists. After making a right onto Morning Glory Road, and parking in the lot of what looked like a vacant bank, I walked across the street to prepare to search for the snake bird. It took me less than one minute. There it was, roosting on a dead branch hanging over the water. Great. Check. Take a few photos. 3 minutes spent at location, now whaddya wanna do?
Well, I really like the Shop-Rite brand of crunchy peanut butter, so I went inside and bought all they had--5 jars, plus some jelly, pudding, Jell-O, and a half gallon of milk--looking at my shopping cart you'd think I was stocking up for a 7-year-old.
Still, getting the Anhinga for NJ and Burlco seemed like an accomplishment. I think "seemed" is the operative work in that last sentence.
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